Love It or Hate It: The Verity Movie Teaser Is Dividing the Internet

Colleen Hoover is famous when it comes to her book-to-film adaptations. Her fourth novel is getting a much-awaited film adaptation with a heavy star-studded cast, including Dakota Johnson and Anne Hathaway, who is already creating buzz with The Devil Wears Prada 2.

Amazon MGM Studios released the Verity movie teaser, and it has the internet divided. Readers of “Verity” have shared mixed opinions about the adaptation, offering an early glimpse into how audiences are responding to the film’s interpretation of the story.

Colleen Hoover’s previous novels, like “It Ends With Us,” “Reminders of Him,” and “Regretting You,” have been adapted into films as well. These were romantic/drama films, but Verity is the first psychological thriller mixed with romance that will hit the big screen this Halloween season.

Michael Showalter is helming the adaptation, having previously directed romantic drama, comedy, and biographical stories before, like The Idea of You (2024), Spoiler Alert (2022), and Lovebirds (2020). Technically, he has never directed a true psychological thriller before, which might make Verity a dicey project. However, he is good at focusing on emotional intimacy rather than traditional thriller pacing, as we have seen in the teaser. The story could feel more character-driven, and the suspense might come from relationships and ambiguity, and not just shock or fear.  ​

Plot details of Verity (2026)​

Based on the best-selling 2018 novel from Colleen Hoover, Verity is a psychological thriller about a renowned author, Lowen Ashleigh (played by Dakota Johnson), who is hired as a ghostwriter by the husband (Josh Hartnett) of another best-selling author and his wife, Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway).

Verity is injured in an accident and is unable to complete her book. Lowen is hired for the said purpose, but she discovers an unpublished autobiography with disturbing revelations about Verity and her family. Lowen is forced to question the truth about Verity and the place.​

Watch the unsettling teaser here:​

Does the Verity movie teaser do justice to the book?​

After watching the teaser trailer, the fans are divided by the kind of film adaptation Verity will be. The comment section under the YouTube trailer showed people debating that the erotic yet disturbing kissing scene between Dakota Johnson and Anne Hathaway is not in the book.​

Though the teaser shows a high-tension scene as the husband suddenly transforms into a sinister, red-lipped Verity who pulls Lowens into a violent kiss, it could be a hallucinatory sequence for a manifestation of Lowen’s paranoia. It could imply a major new deviation for the film adaptation.​

It is true that the book leans heavily into psychological tension, sexual jealousy, and a sinister, bedridden Verity; the exact physical confrontation is an invention that the director, Michael Showalter, capitalized on. The very scene is a visual representation of the psychological horror that grips Lowen as she uncovers Verity’s secrets in their house.  ​

Fans have been ecstatic about the film, with many saying, “This is exactly how I imagined it.” This reaction suggests that, after reading “Verity”, the sense of psychological terror associated with Verity’s character deeply embedded itself in readers’ minds—much like it does for Lowen in the story. The scene in the Verity teaser appears to capture that fear effectively, portraying Lowen’s unease as something almost suffocating, driven by Verity’s unsettling presence.​

However, not all reactions have been positive. Some fans have expressed frustration, arguing that the film may not do full justice to the book, particularly pointing out that the kissing scene is not a part of the original story. This has led to concerns that the adaptation might alter key dynamics or dilute the psychological tension that made the novel so gripping in the first place.​

According to Entertainment Weekly, Hoover’s thoughts on the adaptation’s ending were,

​“That’s been the biggest challenge. I’ve seen about seven different endings, but I feel like we were all on the same page with the one we wanted to go with.” [Source]​

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When is Verity (2026) releasing?

​Amazon MGM Studios will distribute Verity in theaters on October 2, 2026.

Genre: Psychological thriller, crime, drama, mystery, romance

Cast: Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, Josh Hartnett, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Brady Wagner, Asel Swango

Director: Michael Showalter

Writers: Colleen Hoover, Nick Antosca, Will Honley

Producers: Colleen Hoover, Michael Showalter, Nick Antosca, Alex Hedlund, Stacey Sher, Jordana Mollick, Anne Hathaway

Release date: October 2, 2026

Movie runtime: – –